


Weeding

by Baozhale



Series: Tamora Pierce BINGO 2013 [7]
Category: Emelan - Tamora Pierce, PIERCE Tamora - Works
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-22
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-27 07:33:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/976138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baozhale/pseuds/Baozhale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's summer. That means weeding, plus some conversation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weeding

**Author's Note:**

> Bloom prompt for BINGO

“Come on, boy! You're wasting daylight!”

Briar woke to Rosethorn's shout and sighed. He'd been having a _wonderful_ dream. She was right, though.

“Is it weeding?”

“Is it summer? Of course it's weeding!” Her speech was slow and sometimes slurred, but understandable.

Briar stood and stretched, then rolled up his pants and climbed down to the attic. He left the trapdoor open on the way down in the hope that it would entice a breeze to cool the house (or, perhaps, that Tris would convince a breeze to do so.)

Everything in the garden bloomed. Even the weeds. Sometimes it seemed like it was _especially_ the weeds that bloomed, considering how much of his time was spent yanking them from the soil and throwing them on the compost heap. He was still impressed by the rate at which the plants grew. The fruits, vegetables, and herbs that Rosethorn _intended_ to grow were aided by charms not given to the weeds, but the presence of strong ambient plant mages seemed to speed the growth of all plants, including the weeds. No matter how free of weeds they made the garden one day, the next there would be more. That was summer.

Rosethorn still sometimes tested him on his identification of plants as they worked. “What's this one?” she asked.

“Yarrow. Used for wounds, fevers, and pain. It's also good in soup.”

 _Very good in soup_. That was Tris.

“And this?” Rosethorn pointed at another plant.

“Tomato. Don't eat the leaves, they're poisonous. Do eat the fruit.”

“Does the fruit have any uses?”

“Possibly good for the wheezes-”

“Asthma,” Rosethorn corrected.

 _That's what Lark has,_ Sandry said in his head.

_Think that's why Rosethorn put so much effort into growing them?_

_Probably_ , she admitted.

“Possibly good for asthma,” he repeated, “and for ac-acne.”

As they weeded their way through the garden, Briar realized that Rosethorn was asking him to identify plants far more than she had before. “You didn't ask this much at the end of last summer,” he accused.

Rosethorn glared at him. “Boy, last summer we had the earthquake and then the pirates-”

“And then the drought, and then the plague. I know. Weeding don't go no slower without talking, though.”

“Doesn't go any slower.”

“Weeding _doesn't go any slower_ without talking, though. And that still _doesn't_ say why it's more.” He looked at his teacher.

“You need the practice, boy, and so do I.”

“ _And so do I.”_ _Oh. She needs to practice talking._

 _Of course she needs to practice talking. Why didn't you think of that before?_ That was Sandry. _It was probably a rude question._

 _How's he supposed to know if he doesn't ask?_ Tris demanded. Briar agreed with her.

 _This is Rosethorn we're talking about. If she thought it was rude, she'd have_ told _him, instead of just fixing his grammar_ , Daja pointed out.

 _And probably not have answered, at that_ , Briar added.

“Briar, pay attention! What is this plant?” Rosethorn waved an arm in front of Briar's face.

 _Just because Rosethorn doesn't care doesn't mean it's not rude_ , Sandry insisted.

Briar sent his sister the mental image of him sticking his tongue out at her

“Tumeric. Good for in-flam-ma-tion, whee-asthma, and livers. It can do those things in cooking, too. For foot fungus, you have to rub the tumeric powder on the bad spot, so you can't eat it anymore.”

“You would think of it in terms of what you can eat.”

“Of course I would! Tumeric makes things taste good. Except porridge. Porridge should be sweet.”


End file.
